Grand Valley State Electrical Engineering (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering
- Public university
- Allendale, MI
- About 19 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Grand Valley State electrical engineering graduates earn about what electrical engineering graduates earn nationally, $80,732 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $29,172 in federal loans, more than at 92% of electrical engineering programs in the country. Several Michigan programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Michigan and national columns are the medians across all electrical engineering bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan electrical engineering program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Michigan medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned about the same in their first year as other graduates. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $309 a month, or 4.6% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
94% of graduates (32 of 34) were working in Michigan one year after graduating. Prices in the Grand Rapids area are about 4% below the national average, so a $80,732 salary here buys what about $84,495 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to electrical engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Architectural and Engineering Managers
$166,930Median pay in Michigan. 14,820 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Electrical Engineers
$106,070Median pay in Michigan. 10,840 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer
$127,200Median pay in Michigan. 2,960 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Computer Hardware Engineers
$119,670Median pay in Michigan. 1,420 people work in this job in Michigan. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Grand Valley State
Electrical Engineering ranks 2nd of 62 bachelor's programs at Grand Valley State by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Engineering ($80,746), Electrical Engineering ($80,732), and Manufacturing Engineering ($76,754).
Other electrical engineering bachelor's programs near Allendale
Common questions
The median graduate earns $80,732 one year after graduating. The median across electrical engineering bachelor's programs in Michigan is $80,031.
The median federal loan balance is $29,172, which ranks 7th lowest of 10 electrical engineering bachelor's programs in Michigan. That works out to about $309 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 36% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 32%. Compare the cost with other Michigan programs before deciding.
Most do. 94% (32 of 34) were working in Michigan one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Michigan comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the electrical engineering program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024